Article in Beaumont Enterprise

Here is a copy of the story that ran in last week's Beaumont Enterprise. The story was not posted online otherwise we would have posted the link here.

Beaumont Enterprise 09/11/2009, Page A07
YMCA land a third option in Sallie Curtis fight
BEAUMONT
By Dee Dixon
DDixon@BeaumontEnterprise.com
(409) 880-0733

Although parents were given a slip of paper to choose one of two options previously outlined regarding student placement during construction of a new Sallie Curtis Elementary School, a third option emerged instead.

Jeff Moore, Beaumont Metropolitan YMCA chief executive officer, said it is a viable option for Sallie Curtis students to move into portable buildings on 12 acres adjacent to the new West End YMCA, a building scheduled to be completed in March.

Moore, whose children attend Sallie Curtis, told the parents that YMCA board members supported the option and that “innovative programming” might be a side benefit.



Thursday was the last of a series of town hall meetings on the subject.

Initially, the two options were: remain in the existing Sallie Curtis until the new Regina-Howell Elementary is finished, then move into the buildings those students have been using along Major Drive; or build the new school on the back portion of the property occupied by the present building.

The first would have delayed completion of Sallie Curtis until August 2012.

Amanda Sheldon, who has three children at Sallie Curtis, said she was leaning toward the YMCA option.

“The big frustration is all of this should have been decided a long time ago. We’re two months from building and we’re just now deciding where it’s supposed to go,” said Sheldon.

Tiffany Nickles, who has one child at Sallie Curtis, left the meeting after selecting her option.

“I’m leaning toward moving off-site and waiting until Regina-Howell moves out,” said Tiffany Nickles, who has one child in Sallie Curtis.

She expressed safety with a nearby construction zone. Last week, Superintendent Carrol A. Thomas said the district would make a decision based on the recommendation forwarded by Sallie Curtis Principal Susan Brown, according to Enterprise archives.

“I will relay there is a strong support for looking at a third option,” she said Thursday.

The Beaumont Independent School District board of trustees takes up the issue at its Sept. 17 meeting.

"I hope we take the time and do the research instead of voting right then," board member Tom Neild said. "I believe we have a responsibility to consider that and look at the details and see if it will help the overall decision and budget."